Improvement in sewing-machines



- 2 SheetsSheet 1.

L. W, LANGDON. SEWING MACHINE.

No. 39,256. Patented July 14, 1863.

2 'Sheets--Sheet 2.

'-L. ,W LANGDON.

SEWING MACHINE Pat'ented July 14, 1863.

' Fig. 3.

ynesses Inventor.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEANDERNV. LANGDON, QF NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOISL TO HIMSELF AND DANIEL G. LITTLEFIELI), 3F SAVE PLACE.

IMPROVEM ENT IN SEWING MACHINES.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent- No.'39,256, dated July 1 of the construction and operation of the same,

taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specificatiom, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation with apart of the bed removed to show the mechanism beneath the table. Fig. 2 is a like elevation of-the-opposite side. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the back end. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the front end with a 'part of the bed removed. to show the mechanism within, and Fig. 5 i s-a plan of the machine beneath the table. Figs. 6 and 7 are details.

The subject-matter of my invention relates to the mechanism in sewingmachines for feeding the material along through the machine, which invention is represented as applied to what is known as the four-motion feed.

The first part of my invention consists in combining with the reciprocating-feeder such suitable devices as willenable the direction of its feeding motion to be reversed, so that the material may be fed in an opposite direction at will without reversing its position or re moving it from the machine, by which means the end of the seam may be securely fastened or a second seam may be sewed alongside of the first, and other useful results may be produced in sewin The second part of my invention consists in -t he employment,in combination with the mechanism that gives the feeding movement to the -vteeder, of a device for arresting its operation A is the bed-piece or frame of the machine,

upon which the operative parts are arranged. i B is the main shaft, with its cranks and calns, which impart the requisite movements to the operative parts of the machine.

U is the needlearm; ,D, the goose neck; E, the table; F, the shuttle; G, the shuttle-race, and H the shuttle-driver.

The-machine shown is in its general arrangement similar to that represented in Letters Patent granted to myself and Wells and Littlefield March, 20, 1860, No. 27,59 excepting in the mechanism for feeding, to which this invention relates, and to which parts l shall more particularly confine my description.

I represents .the feeder, -which is simply a .bent bar sliding ina groove in the bed J, as shown, the uppersurface of which is provided with sharp teeth, by which'to engage with thematerial and carry it tbrwardwhen the baris raised, in this respect operating like what is known as the four-motion feed, excepting that the teeth are made upright, so that they will movethe material in either direction, as desired. Upon the under side of the bar I is a short arm, 2', projecting downward, upon which the balance-leverj hangs. This lever is of a T form and has'its joint at the intersection of the two parts, at which point it is connected to the arm 2', just mentioned. The horizontal arm of the lever is connected by the rod k with the long lever K under the bed of the machine, which extends back under the main shaft and receivesa vertical vibrating motion from itby means of the eccentric I) and rod c,-a-nd transmits a corres 'ionding movement to the lever j. The vertical arms of the leverj are bent laterally to the form of a curve, as is shown in Fig. 2, and has a groove in its face, which extends from end to end. OOncenwith a milled head, a, by which the arm at is placed in any required position in the groove. The collar n of the head a that comes next to the bed iseut away upon the. lower side, and

below it is the set-screw 0, which works through the boss 0 on the bed, the point of which reaches within the circle of the collar n and forms a stop to determine the. extent of the oscillations of the shaft I, as is shown more clearly in Figs. 6 and 7. The purpose of this is to control the extent to which the rocking shaft may be moved in either direction and the position that the fulcrumm shall occupy in the groove of the leverj. his so adjusted that when the head a is in the position shown in Fig. 7 the arm on shall be opposite to the joint of the lever j, in which position the 'vibrations'of the lever would not impart any motion to the bar I; but if the arm on is moved toward the extremities of the leverj it gives a motion corresponding in extent to the distance it is from the center and in one direction or the other, as it-is placed above or below the center. The distance to which the arm in may be moved to one side or the other ofthe center of the lever is regulated by screwing upor down the screw 0, which thus acts as a variable stop, and also determines the distance to which the shaftlshall be turned in the opposite direction to give the feeder the same extent of movement in the opposite direction,-thus regulating both the length of the stitches and the direction ot' fecdin The shaft 1 is held from turning freely by the small leaf-spring p, which lies in the groove 1' in the shaft, as is shown in Fig 6. The vertical movement of the feed-bar is given by the in clined cam S on the hool; T, which manipulates the shuttle-thread, as is described in our aforesaid patent, No. 27,594, which as it swings to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5 passes beneath the outer end oi:'-the bar and raises it, and when it swings to the position shown in dotted lines passes out from beneath it and permits it to fall.

The end of the lever K beneath the main shaft has an arm, g, which extends back under the latch or catch lever 0, which, when the lever K is depressed by the eccentric I), swings over the lever and holds it so that it cannot rise to follow the eccentric I), as it otherwise would do, being forced upward by the spring K,'b v which means the leading movement of the feeder l is arrested. The catchlever 0 hangs upon a fulcrum at c, and is below the main shaft and has upon its outer end the small lever f, by which it may be oscillated a short distance, which oscillation moves the fulcrum horizontally as the leverf is inclined one way or the other. When the leverfis in the position shown the catch-lever 0 will swing over the arm gand hold it at each alternate revolution of the main shaft; but when the leverfis inclined in the opposite direction the catch-lever isthrown out of aciion and the feeding proceeds uninterrnptedly. The object of the catch-lever is to enable the needle to be inserted twice in the same, place, so as to duplicate the interlocking of the threads at each stitch, as has already been invented by me, and is a part of the subject of Letters Patent granted to me October 30. 1855, No.13,72 7, which is there done by ditt'erent devices, but upon the sameprinciple. Whenever it is desired to malte the double stitch the leverf is placed in the position shown in the drawings, and by inclining the lever in the opposite direction thesinglestitch is made with out any other modification or removing the work from the machine; and so in changing the direction of the feeding when the end of the seam is reached by reversing the position of the rocking shalt l by means or the milled head until its motion is arrested by the stop-- screw 0 the machine sews in the opposite direction in the same scam with the same length ot' stitch, by which means the end of theseam is thoroughly secured or av second seam can be sewed parallel with the first without removing the material from the machine or reversing its position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is-- l. Combining with the mechanism which gives the feeding motion to the feeder I a re- \CIslllgdeVGlJ, oriis equivalent, by means of which the direction of the'fcedingmotion ot' the feeder maybe reversed or thelength ot'the stitches adjusted, substantially as described.

2. Combining with the mechanism which gives the feeding motion to the feeder the catch lever c, or its equivalent, operating substantially as described, by which the feeding motion is arrested at each alternate operation of the needle.

3. imparting the vertical or engaging and disengaging motion to the feeder by means of the hook T, substantially as described.

Executed at Northampton this 19th day of March, A. D. 1863. 

